NetApp (NTAP) is scheduled to report results of its fiscal third quarter after the market close on Wednesday, February 13, with a conference call scheduled for 5:30 pm ET. What to watch for: 1. Q3 EPS CONSENSUS UP A TICK: Along with its last report, NetApp guided for Q3 adjusted earnings per share in the range of $1.12-$1.18 on revenue of $1.55B-$1.65B. At the time, analysts were guided for Q3 EPS of $1.12, but that figure has since risen to $1.15. The Wall Street consensus estimate for Q3 revenue remains unchanged at $1.6B. 2. MORGAN STANLEY IT HARDWARE INDUSTRY NOTE: Last month, Morgan Stanley analyst Kathryn Huberty downgraded her IT hardware industry view to In-Line from Attractive, saying that hardware spending plans fell more than any other technology category across U.S. and European CIOs in the firm's recent checks. Slowing growth, which the analyst attributed to waning cyclical benefits, make it harder to own hardware-heavy data center stocks in the near term, Huberty told investors in a research note. At the time, the analyst downgraded NetApp to Underweight from Equal Weight and cut her price target on the shares to $58 from $72, citing her view that revenue growth will likely slow materially on more difficult compares in the coming quarters. 3. PIPER STORAGE SURVEY: Earlier this week, Piper Jaffray analyst Andrew Nowinski released a research note saying the firm had conducted its fiscal fourth quarter Storage Reseller Survey by collecting feedback from 28 resellers and distributors. The analyst said that while only five of 14 vendors had net positive versus six of the 14 last quarter, the firm saw "strong results" for Pure Storage (PSTG), Rubrik, Nutanix (NTNX), Veeam, and NetApp. Nowinski noted that Pure Storage also had the strongest pipeline heading into the April quarter, adding that the company's results sharply improved in the survey, with 67% of resellers citing "Above Plan" results, the highest level seen in three years.

Piper storage survey positive for Pure Storage, Nutanix, NetApp. Piper Jaffray conducted its fiscal Q4 Storage Reseller Survey by collecting feedback from 28 resellers and distributors. While only five of 14 vendors had net positive results versus six of the 14 last quarter, the firm saw "strong results" for Pure Storage (PSTG), Rubrik, Nutanix (NTNX), Veeam and NetApp (NTAP), analyst Andrew Nowinski told investors earlier in a research note. Pure Storage also had the strongest pipeline heading into the April quarter, added the analyst. The company's results sharply improved in the survey, with 67% of resellers citing "Above Plan" results, the highest level seen in three years, says Nowinski. The stock in early trading is up 19c to $18.47. Of those surveyed by Piper, 36% of resellers said they saw a negative impact from the U.S. government shutdown, with Dell (DELL), HP/3PAR (HPQ) and IBM (IMB) the most impacted.

Nutanix's Frame may become segue for managing more SaaS solutions, says Needham. Needham analyst Jack Andrews kept his Buy rating and $76 price target on Nutanix after attending its presentation on the company's SaaS Frame solution. The analyst notes that its virtual desktop infrastructure offering in a single-click environment could lead customers "to purchase additional SaaS-based solutions on top of their core HCI infrastructure". Andrews further contends that Nutanix's one-click experience could be pivotal for managing these hybrid workloads, adding that early pipeline indications also suggest that 50% of the current Frame customers are new to the company.

VP & General Manager-Desktop Services Bozinovic discusses Nutanix Xi Frame, the company's desktop-as-a-service solution for virtual desktops and applications on any cloud to any web browser on a conference call to be held on February 5 at 2 pm. Webcast Link

VP & General Manager-Desktop Services Bozinovic discusses Nutanix Xi Frame, the company's desktop-as-a-service solution for virtual desktops and applications on any cloud to any web browser on a conference call to be held on February 5 at 2 pm. Webcast Link

VP & General Manager-Desktop Services Bozinovic discusses Nutanix Xi Frame, the company's desktop-as-a-service solution for virtual desktops and applications on any cloud to any web browser on a conference call to be held on February 5 at 2 pm. Webcast Link

Adobe (ADBE) announced the appointments of Leeny Oberg and Dheeraj Pandey to its board of directors, effective Jan. 22, 2019. In addition, current board directors Edward "Ned" Barnholt and Robert "Rob" Burgess have each announced their intent to retire and step down from the Adobe board, effective at the end of their respective terms in April. Barnholt is the retired chairman, president and CEO of Agilent Technologies (A) and served as the chair of the Adobe board's nominating and governance committee for over a decade. Burgess is the former chairman and CEO of Macromedia.Oberg has served as the CFO of Marriott International (MAR) since 2016. Pandey is the founder, CEO and chairman of Nutanix (NTNX), a global leader in enterprise cloud software and hyperconverged infrastructure solutions.

Nutanix checks show 'strong' billings this quarter, says William Blair. William Blair analyst Jason Ader says recent channel checks suggest a "strong" billings performance in Nutanix's fiscal Q2, which ends in January, after "somewhat disappointing" reported billings in Q1. Nutanix is seeing a continued strong demand environment for the hyper-converged infrastructure category from both new and existing customers as well as increasing deal sizes, Ader tells investors in a research note. He believes the company has "best-of-breed product positioning" and keeps an Outperform rating on the name. Further, Nutanix is a "highly strategic asset" with the potential for takeout interest from larger players that desire a best-of-breed private cloud/HCI platform, says Ader.

New position opened in Nutanix weekly puts. With shares falling from $49.12 to $48.97, Jan 25th 47 puts trade across the exchanges for 75 and 80c, including 3.25K for 80c on CBOE when bid-ask was 60 to 80c. 4.1K changed hands: there is zero open interest, the puts are struck 3.5% below spot, expiring at the end of next week. Earnings not due until late-February. Bearish flow in Nutanix comes the day after the company presented at a Needham conference and even after Morgan Stanley raised the stock to Overweight earlier today.